


The Masks We Wear

by TheFallingJOKER



Series: The Sins Of Life [1]
Category: Gears of War (Video Games)
Genre: Family Issues, M/M, Slow Build, Swearing, Violence, Yaoi, everybody got issues, gears being gears, implied sex in later chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-09
Updated: 2014-03-18
Packaged: 2018-01-07 23:07:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1125466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFallingJOKER/pseuds/TheFallingJOKER
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yuri didn't start fights- he just had an uncanny ability to get stuck in the middle of them.<br/>Now he was stuck fighting in some godforsaken war for a government he couldn't abide.<br/>Fighting his leaders.<br/>Fighting the Locust.<br/>Fighting to Survive.<br/>And maybe, fighting for the heart of a young, blonde soldier who really shouldn't have gotten stuck in his life.</p><p> </p><p>The first part of 'The Sins Of Life' series.<br/>CURRENTLY ON HIATUS DUE TO LIFE BEING LIFE</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

** MESS HALL: 0800 1 A.E.  
**

 

"Hey, you heard about the new guy from last night?!"

Damon Baird was trying his upmost best to stay hidden from everyone on the planet. It had been a long night - every night had been since he'd joined this stinking army - and the last thing he wanted was to be _sociable._   But no matter how low he ducked his head as he swallowed lump after tasteless lump of porridge, someone inevitably found him. He wasn't sure who this someone was, they wore a helmet and Baird failed to see the point in wasting precious effort on guessing as to who lurked under the hood.

"Er, come again?" Augustus Cole grunted, filling in Baird's silence.

The excitable gear nodded his heavy, helmeted head. "Yeah, some weird dude with an accent of some sort showed up, said he was from Anvil Gate. Got here last night on, get this, a _Reaver_ of all things. Honest! My teammate, Will, heard it from his friend who worked the night shift - you'll know the guy, Tanner-thingy... Oh, what's he called?"

"Never mind that, you're telling me some guy just shows up on the back of some butt-ugly Reaver, strolls in here and stays the night like a kid at a damn sleepover?!" Cole guffawed, his loud booming voice shaking Baird's spine. "Ah, good one baby. But save the jokes-"

"It's not a joke! He even carried in a wounded, said that was why he was here. Something about getting split from his commanding officer and his COMMs went to shit, he got ambushed with his mate, managed to hijack a damn Reaver, flew to the closest base he knew and turned up here. The fucking Reaver crashed - its carcass is outside the main gate!"

Baird lifted his head. This actually sounded pretty entertaining, but he didn't let it show as he sighed, "Okay, so if all this is real, where's the guy now?"

 

* * *

* * *

 

"So, let me just hear this one more time. Your name is-"

"Corporal Yuri, yes..."

"And you were attacked whilst seperated from the rest of your squad-"

"And unable to contact my sergeant..."

"So whilst covering for a severely wounded soldier-"

"Who wouldn't be so badly injured if you hadn't shot us down last night..."

"-you tricked a Reaver into, and I qoute,  _'falling over its own legs'_ grabbed the Grub off its back, climbed on top of the beast, shot the remaining Locust and managed to get the thing to lie down and let your friend climb aboard."

"Yes, pretty much."

Loomis was amazed, actually fucking amazed. In all his years, and there'd been a few, he had never once heard of such a fantastical tale. If it wasn't for the steaming pile of legs and nightmares just outside the base, he'd have shot the young soldier for wasting offical time with ludacris, insane prattle.

But, no, there was a dead Reaver outside his door, there was a wounded soldier in his medical bay and there was a pair of ice blue eyes staring at him, unblinkingly, with complete honesty.

The old man rubbed his chin, his sharp narrow eyes scanning the boy again.

In honesty, he was relatively short compared to the other Gears, standing at a rough guess of 5' 9" maybe 5' 8" without the thick soles of his boots. His muscles were young, fresh, not as strong or as thick as Loomis would have liked to see on a Gear, but they'd do for now. His skin was tanned, rosy. High cheekbones and a heart-shaped face only gave more feminity to his less than manly appearence. Worst, Loomis didn't fail to notice the thick, black locks of hair that clearly violated army regulation.

"You've been in the army less than a year." Loomis stated, sitting straight in his chair.

The Gear smiled, rows of pearls glinting behind thin caramel lips. "I had experience prior."

"Perhaps you'd like to remind me of your age, soldier."

"I'm 19. Conscripted at legal age of 18, sir." Yuri saluted with a mocking smirk on his lips.

"And this experience you mentioned..."

The boy shrugged, his gloved hand dropping to rest aginst his hip. "I lived on a farm. I had experience fighting bulls."

Loomis' eyes widened for a second. "You mean to tell me, figthing  _bulls_ gave you the skills to commandeer a  _Reaver_?"

"Certainly didn't take any skills away, no?" 

The colonel frowned. "You're dismissed, we'll try to contact your commanding officer shortly. Mean time, I suggest you find something to eat."

The boy nodded, saluting sharply before turning to the door, halting when Loomis called out,

"But know this, Corporal, I'll be keeping a very close eye on you."

Yuri didn't bat an eye, didn't turn, just pushed on the door and made his way to the Mess Hall.

 

* * *

* * *

 

Yuri had always been different.

He learnt to walk at the age of 1 without ever crawling, learned to drive a tractor at the age of 4 and drive a car at the age of 6. He got into his first fight age 9 when another boy called him a liar, so he broke the other boy's nose and arm. He was fluent in Gorasni and Tyran by the age of 10 and a master actor, often disguising his voice into accents and holding full conversations with COG soldiers through stolen COMM units.

Naturally, as he got older and the horrors of the Pendulam Wars revealed themselves, Yuri started to learn better skills, better ways of using his abilities...

"A serving of your best, please darling." Yuri winked at the dinner woman behind the counter, his charm was wasted though as the shriveled old hag mercilessly dumped a pile of sludge onto his tray and handed him an apple.

"The apple's my best, sugar." She croaked in a nicotine rasp.

With a weakened smile, he turned prowling the rows of tables for a place to sit. Most other soldiers didn't pay him much attention, he was just a new face, no doubt another new recruit as far as they were concerned. But he heard a few talking about him, about that strange guy who'd rode in on a Reaver and lived to tell the tale. A few praised him for his balls to do it while the odd nutter called him a sorcerer in league with the monsters from below.

Yuri didn't care what they thought, he'd only done what was needed at the time. It was to save a friend. Simple as that.

In the end he sat on a quiet table in the corner, far from windows and prying eyes. The pale blue wall was to his back, and the surface of cold plaster soothed him as he ate. His arctic eyes searched the room, scanning every face. 

 _'Dodgy tash. Needs longer hair. Kinda cute. Helmet head. Helmet head #2. Anger issues. Scarface.'_   Yuri listed as he observed them all. It was just another crowd. He took a spoonful of porridge, leaving the spoon in the moist cavern of his mouth and sucking till the taste of metal overpowered the lumpy-bumpy slop.

 _'Lets see... Yet another Helmet Head. Huh, this one's pretty exciteable - looks like he's gonna jump off his damn chair.'_ He piled another spoonful into his mouth.  _'Please, please fall off your chair. That'd be the funniest fucking thing right now.'_   Sadly the soldier didn't fall off his chair, instead he seemed to pause and shake his head at his two companions.  _'Oh, they upset you puppy? Damn.'_   His eyes flickered to a choclate brown, shaved head and a golden blonde one. He couldn't see their faces, but from their relaxed sitting, it was obvious the two were comfortable in their surroundings. Well, maybe except for blondie - the way his shoulders sloped and tensed, it looked like he was battling a losing war to stay awake. Yuri grinned.

A few minutes passed as Yuri continued in his quiet observations of the trio before the blondie stood. He waved a hand half-heartedly, patting the beefy black guy on the shoulder as he turned to leave.

And good God had he never seen such a pretty face.

Yuri felt his mouth pop open, the spoon slipping dangerously past his lips. Since when where there boys with all the colourings of summer? Sunshine blonde hair and sky blue eyes. Why the fuck weren't there guys like that around when he was growing up? It was precisely as blondie walked closest to him that the spoon fell from his mouth clattering to the floor. 

Two pairs of blue eyes bored into eachother. 

Yuri swallowed closing his mouth while the other male smirked with a cocky up-tilt of his head. "Enjoying the view, dipshit?" He rolled out the inslult in a caustic tone that seemed to come easily to the man. 

The Gorasni rubbed the back of his head, his thick locks tangling in his nervous fingers. "Sorry, I have a weakness for goggles. I, er, used to collect them." He coughed, gesturing at the blue glassed items on the blonde's head.

"Riiiiiight." The blonde drawled. "And I used to collect sugar cubes and stack them in a pretty little row."

"That's adorable, you must have been a cute kid." Yuri smiled, eyes closing in a well acted show of affection as he completely bipassed the other's surly sarcasm. 

Baird scoffed, turning to walk away. Who in the name of Sera was this asshole, anyway? 

"I'm Yuri, by the way." The stranger called out as if on cue. 

"Yeah and I'm I-don't-give-a-fuck. Have a nice day." Baird snarled as he walked out of the Mess Hall.

Yuri grinned, eyes never once leaving the male. Looked like he'd found himself a new playtoy.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**MEDICAL BAY: 1750  1 A. E.**

 

He was an idiot. A complete and total, utter idiot. 

Baird was stuck waiting for the doctor to come stitch the two inch, deep gash on his forearm. He'd been stupid, panicked when under fire and bolted over a chunk of wall that had landed from the floor. Only trouble was that he hadn't noticed the damn razorwire along the top of the bastard thing and it had buried its teeth in his flesh like a starving Wretch. Now he had to take a trip to hospital bay, just to, you know,  _make his day_. He scoffed to himself, he knew he must be bored if he was making lame rhymes like that.

From behind his closed privacy curtains, and on the bed to his right, Baird could hear the soft voice of a Gorasni shouldier. "You all right?" 

"Never been better." Another soldier grunted, his voice strained and hinting at more Kashkuri origins. "How's the base?"

"Same as any other; big, angry gears, lots of guns, lots of testosterone. 'Sall good, I guess." 

Baird frowned, that second voice sounded annoyingly familiar. Why couldn't he think of a face?

"See anything you like?" The Kashkuri gear chuckled, a smile evident in his mischievous tone.

A chuckle answered the question before a brief silence fell. Gorasni broke it first. "I'm glad you're okay. Only person I get to talk to properly."

"Heh, so you're just using my liberal thoughts for your own entertainment?" Baird recognised that tone of voice, it was the same sarcastic drawl he used.

"Meh, pretty much. Problem?" 

The sound of sheets roughling and a cough. "Do as you please. You wanna swing that way, feel free."

Swing? What the other guy was...? Well, if he was then whatever. Baird didn't care. If that other gear liked guys, that was his business.

"Shame more people don't think that way." The Gorasni sighed.

"Hmm? You haven't... got another letter, have you?" 

The sound of a tapping foot and cracking knuckles echoed. "Yeah. Just before we left, he... 'Make me proud. Earn your place.' All the usual shit."

Some kind of grunt. "Forget him, you'll be fine. You always are, right?"

"Mr. Baird, correct?" 

Damon jumped, glancing over his shoulder at the smiling nurse. She nodded her head at him and took a step forward, "I'm here to fix that awful mess on your arm."

She shifted aroud, her footsteps light and giddy, until she stood before Baird with her back to the two chatting gears behind the curtain. She was a little older than him, no doubt nearing thirty. Her nametag said "Joy."

Her hands were dainty, the blue of her plastic hygiene gloves pulled taut over her delicate fingers. The prick, prick, prick of the needle stung, but was easy to ignore as he continued listening to the two soldiers next door.

"What do you think Sarge'll say when he finds us?" The Kaskuri rasped, his breath a slow, rattling moan.

The sound of a chair scraping and a shadow danced over the seperating curtain. "Doesn't matter. He'll blame me for not paying attention, not making sure my TAC/COMM was working, blah-blah-blah."

"You really don't like him." The other gear gasped, as the chuckling shadow moved closer to the vaguely silhouetted bedside. An arm stretched out offering something to the laying gear. Baird presumed it was a glass of water. 

"Correction;  _he_ doesn't like  _me_." 

"All done, nice and clean and no more blood!" The nurse chuckled. Stepping back from Baird who nodded as he looked at her handiwork. Neat, tidy and precise. Not bad. 

"Thanks." 

She waved a hand at him, pulling off the gloves as she stepped towards the curtain. "No worries, just doing my job. Now, to take care of-" Pulling the curtain open, the nurse fell silent.

Her patient, one Jax Lavenhowe, a twenty-four year old with a kind pair of brown eyes and warm Kashkuri accent, was laid on his bed surrounded by piles of rude magazines, playing cards and even a bottle of whisky. Joy felt her face turn ashen, then promplty explode into crimson. Her shaky gray eyes turned to the Gorasni gear, the loyal friend of Jax. To his credit, he allowed an awkward blush to bloom on his high cheeks and a sincere smile to morph his lips. 

"S-sorry. Thought I'd bring something to entertain him. And the whiskey 's mine, he hasn't touched a drop - what with his medication. Er, sorry. Again."

Baird, who had poked his head over the nurse's solider to see all the fuss was highly amused. The two other gears looked like a pair of naughty schoolboys. His laugh was quiet and only slightly mocking, but when a pair of arctic eyes met his, he finally remembered where he'd heard the voice. 

Yuri. 

Yuri, the Gorasni boy who rode a damn Reaver, who apparently batted the other way and-

Baird stiffened at the realisation. So when the guy had been staring at him in the Mess Hall, he really  _had_ been checking him out.

He felt a flush dust the back of his neck and hastily looked away.

"Sorry, Nurse Joy." Jax mumbled, eyes flickering between the mortified nurse and his ghost-white comrade. "Yuri, you okay? You look-"

The Gorasni flinched, eyes snapping from the blonde gear to the brunette. "I better go, Jax. I'll talk later." 

"Er, yeah, sure. But Yuri, make sure you eat something - I don't want you in here with me." 

Yuri smiled fondly. Sometimes it was easy to forget that there was only an age difference of five years between the two of them when Jax spoke in a voice as stern and parental as his father's.

"Yes, sir." He saluted with a wink as he turned and left.

 

* * *

* * *

 

Jax had known Yuri for a helluva long time - or at least it felt that way. The two had met during training, way back in the early days of the war. Yuri had been a ball of enegry, a live wire from the start. His impulsive actions and Gorasni origins had got him into a lot of trouble in the initial weeks. The Pendulam Wars were still raw and barely healed, even though Yuri had never fought against the COG, the fact that his accent was that of a UIR indie made friends a hard thing to earn.

But Jax didn't care about accents, looks or the pasts of others. As his Grandmama always said; treat those how you would yourself. Or something like that. And Yuri had never said a bad word to him or anyone else at base. Yuri was a nice guy, funny sometimes, honest near always and constantly looking out for his allies, his brothers. 

Now, Jax had known Yuri nearly a year, and he'd only ever seen him go that pale once. It was when he first saw a Dill and was told he wouldn't get to drive the great hulk of machinery. Yuri's face and had been as white as a sheet and he'd walked away in a quiet huff. If there was one thing Yuri hated, it was being told that he coudn't have something he really wanted. 

"Hey," He called out to the blonde was turning to walk away. "Do you two know eachother?" Nurse Joy fritted and fretted around him, checking the different recordings of one of the many machines he was fastened too. Jax had been here just over a week now, and had become all too familiar with the routine and paid her no mind.

"Not particularly. Take it you're the guy he carted in here." The blonde shuffled in closer to the bed, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. 

A grin flitted across Jax's face. "Yeah, I guess I am. Name's Jax, a pleasure, I'm sure."

"Damon Baird. Pleasure's mine."

Jax rolled his neck, feeling each bone pop and snap as he did. "You'll have to excuse Yuri, he's er, a tad weird." He glanced at the other gear with a cheeky grin. "You'll get used to him."

"Didn't realise he'd be staying long enough to get used to."

"Well, that's true. If we can't reach contact with sarge, then we'll have to stay here 'til I'm better, then get out of this shit hole. No ffence" He bowed his head sheepishly when Nurse Joy tutted. "No doubt a K.R.'ll take us back."

Baird nodded. From the looks of things, Jax still had a few weeks to mend, so Yuri would be staying for awhile. Not that Baird cared of course.

"They'll probably put him on another squad for awhile." Jax mumbled, watching as Joy stuck a needle in his arm. Blood, crimson and dark, crawled up the inside and Baird felt nausceous just watching.

"Anyways, I've got work to do. Hope you get better." Baird grumbled with a cough, waving and walking away whilst Jax closed his eyes for a long nap.

"Thanks. Oh, and do a poor guy a favour? Make sure Yuri doesn't start any fights."

Baird glanced over his shoulder. "What do I look like? A babysitter?"

Jax smirked and didn't say a word.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, I hate the way I write Baird - he just doesn't feel very Baird-y. (* -_-) So, sorry for the OOCness and shizzle :))


	3. Chapter 3

  **KING RAVEN FLIGHT NEST: 2100  1 A.E.**

**  
**

Jax deffinetly called it, Baird mused as another gear who went by the name Rojas brought the grinning Gorasni before Kilo. Yuri was to join another squad. Damn shame it had to be his.

"So, Yuri, I imagine you've met the others. Augustus Cole, Sofia Hendrick, Damon Baird and Garron Paduk." Each member nodded in turn. "Lt. Damon Baird is your commanding officer, but as arranged with Colonel Loomis you're to report to him everyday. We'll continue to attempt contact with Sargeant... Er."

"Jackson Cowling."

The helmeted gear nodded gratefully. "Yes, him - if however, we can't reach him whilst you're out on patrol, you will continue as a member of Kilo."

"Understood." The two gears nodded and seperated ways, Yuri turned to face his new squad. 

Cole, a great hulking man, lumbered to his feet. "Welcome to Kilo squad baby!"

Yuri grinned, accepting the solid arm which wrapped around his shoulders in a brief, but friendly hug. "I feel like part of family all ready." 

Cole laughed, moving away from the new-boy and checking his ammo supplies once more. Paduk was the next to greet the boy. "Ah, it is good to hear another Gorasni brother! _Dobar den, sobrat po oruzhiyu._ " 

" _Undovolstvie e da chuete limba mamochka otnovo._ " Yuri nodded embracing the other man, with strong arms and slaps to eachother's backs. 

"Er, do you know what they're saying?" Cole mumbled raising a hand to cover his mouth, but failing to lower his naturally loud voice to anything bnear a whisper. 

"Something about brothers in arms." Sofia mumbled back. Paduk turned to the much younger cadet. "Huh, you know Gorasni?" 

"I know enough." 

"All right, as lovely as this is, we've got patrols to do." Baird frowned, stepping between the two. "Move it."

"Yes, sir." Yuri smirked as he climbed aboard the Armadillo

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

**MUSEUM OF MILITARY GLORY; HALL OF GLORY: 2230**

Yuri was buggered, screwed and generally fucked. He was on the opposite side of the room to Kilo squad, crammed behind a wooden display case, shuddering from the impact of the hell fire which skimmed his head. He could smell the smoke from the barrel of his gun, taste the distinct clamminess of blood and sweat, feel each vibration and hiss as those freaks called to eachother in a devilish tongue. 

Freaks. Monsters. Yuri had been a creative as a child, but not once had he conjured up beasts such as these; imagined their scaled skin and dull, yellow eyes lurking beneath his bed as he slept.  Yuri shivered. Locust. Grubs. Call them what you want - they're all evil.

He poked his head round the relative cover he had. Four, maybe five grubs were bearing down on him. He could spot Baird from his position, the other gear ducked around the corner of a stone wall. The other gear was glowering, teeth bared as he delivered a swift vengence on his enemies. Yuri couldn't hide his smile as he, too, returned fire.

 _Chaka-chaka-chaka._ Hold breath. _Thud-thud-thud._ Reload.  _Boom-boom-boom._  Return to cover.  _Sigh._ Repeat.

This was Yuri's pattern, his mantra, he repeated it as many times as needed, until there was three grubs, two grubs, one-

Wait. Where was it? Where the hell had it gone?

Yuri glanced at Baird, who was still engaged with an enemy Yuri couldn't quite see. But Yuri could see one thing, a shadow, dark and looming, creeping behind Baird with a crimson splattered cleaver raised. 

"Baird!" Yuri screamed, lifting his lancer as he shot the beast, the blonde gear turning to see the monster at his back. The cleaver swung, its owners arms bulging with its weight as it cut at the space Baird had once filled. The Gear rolled to the right, only to land in a brutal barrage of bullets. There wasn't any cover - cover was precious metres away. Yuri growled as he spurred on his lancer's rampage against the savage beast with a renewed vigour. 

"Move!" He screamed once more, charging towards the damn Theron who wouldn't die. Yuri reached Baird, grabbing him by his hand and pulling him behind him.The gear ran gratefully to the cover as Yuri covered him. His chainsaw thrummmed to life as he finally lost all patience and charged at the grub. "Will. You. Die. Now." He screeched in chorus with the beast's dying babel of screams. 

With blood dripping from his cheeks and the tendril of an intestine on his arm, he shook himself, turning to watch Baird, Cole, Sofia and Paduk finally finish the last of the Locust. 

Yuri sighed, wiping the guts from himself and spitting upon the muddy, macabre ground.

"I could have handeled that myself." Baird grumbled, arms outstretched as he stalked towards the new addition to his squad. 

"Oh, you're welcome." 

Baird glowered. "I said I didn't need your help."

Yuri smirked. "No, you said 'I could have handled that myself' and look - I did."

"What?! Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" 

Yuri smiled, rolling his shoulders, enjoying the pops and cracks of his tense joints. "Watch your back in the future. You'll get in trouble one day." He brushed past his new leader, swooping to pick up some ammo from the floppy hands of a dead grub. 

Damon Baird didn't need saving. He didn't want to be saved. He had no use for advice from a second rate gear.

Baird didn't care one bit about that stupid, infuriating, Gorasni or his smooth smiles. He didn't care at all. he was sure of it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! brief mention on my take of Gorasni; I just mixed Romanian, Bulgarian and some Russian pretty much.  
> Paduk says "Hello, my brother in arms."  
> Yuri responds with "pleasure to hear the mother tongue again."  
> Sounds dumb now I translated it and doesn't really feel all that Gorasni, but hey-ho. Hope you enjoyed the language lesson! :)


	4. Chapter 4

###### 

######  **DESERTED ARMY BUNKER; 8 KLICKS WEST OF ONYX MILITARY ACADEMY: 0330  1 A.E.**

The bandanna between his fingers was neither yellow nor green, instead, it was a queasy mix of the two, full of blotches like mould and sudden, intense yellow bursts like the item had final remembered its past identity, only for the memory to fade back into a morbid, miserable, mouldy green.

But there was another colour, another shade on the bandanna's spectrum. Above Yuri's caressing thumb was a mark akin to an ink spill, a stain so prominent, his stomach churned in time with the memories that flashed through his convulsing mind.

_Blood._ Dried, crusted, Yuri's own reminder of his past identity, of who he had been... of what he had lost...

It had been a long day - why was he torturing himself like this? Yuri snickered. He should change shifts, let someone else wander through this empty barrack with its blood splattered halls, let someone else play hide 'n' seek with those damn Monsters.

He should sleep, let his eyes drift close, let his mind process the full, waist-deep shit he was currently wading in with his new squad, Kilo. Because if he was honest, this was shit, wasn't it? Stealing some beacon, a missile, killing General Grub. This was all rather fantastical, even by his standards.

But he couldn't leave them. They needed him. And who was he kidding? Yuri just wanted the chance to go on a new adventure, to break a few rules (okay, maybe all the rules) and have some fun. That was all life was about wasn't it?.

_'If I can't have fun, who can?' _Yuri chuckled, his thoughts slowing, his body growing lethargic as he stretched into the stiff cushions of an old couch he'd found. His breath was soft, ghosting as he listened to the flap of a thousand Kryll wings outside and the rumble of water pipes overhead.__

Baird had been watching for a good few minutes now, well, maybe a half hour or so. He'd have walked into the old Rec Room sooner if he hadn't been so damn fascinated. It was a dangerous thing Baird's curiosity and Yuri had certainly piqued it.

Seriously, who the hell did that bandanna even belong to? Baird was pretty sure it wasn't Yuri's - at least not originally. The guy was stroking it like it was a cat or some-damn-thing that was so precious, Baird knew Yuri would fight through hell to keep it safe. You could see it in his eyes, the way they glowed so gently under the orange glow of the camping lights.

It had surprised Baird to see that those eyes were shinning too, alight with a starry shimmer from the shine of sacred tears.

That was the other reason Baird was reluctant to interrupt Yuri's reverent, holy moment. Damon Baird was a dick, he'd be the first to admit it, but he wasn't such an ass he'd disrupt a man who was clearly grieving some unknown loss. At least, he didn't think he was a big enough dick to do that.

But, after the minutes ticked by, and Yuri managed to regain some control, sinking into the couch with a self-deprecating chuckle and smirk, the blonde genius decided this was his best moment to enter.

"Didn't your Boss ever tell you not to slack on the job?" Baird frowned as he marched into the room, hiding a smirk as he saw the Gorasni jump in his seat.

"Fuuuuuck... Didn't your mother ever tell you not to jump-up on people?!" Yuri cursed, with a frown of his own.

Baird sneered, head tilted. "Heh, I never listened to that bitch, so I couldn't tell you."

Yuri leant forward, slipping his cherished cloth back into a pocket concealed underneath his chest armour. "Tut tut, that's not polite."

Baird glowered, bowing mockingly. "Oh, sorry, didn't mean to offend the _princess_." He straightened, eyes tense as he watched Yuri stand. he didn't like talking about his psycho bitch mother or his dickhead dad for that matter either. 

"'S okay, but er, that's Queen to you." Yuri winked, easing the atmosphere in a single move. Baird felt himself easing, his niggle of anger fading to something much lighter, something near happiness but not quite there. "Anyways, I'll leave you to it. Goodnight."

Baird grumbled a 'yeah, yeah' in response as he watched the smaller man shuffle to the door. Yuri really was pretty pathetic to look at for a Gear. Sure, he could hardly talk - he was nowhere near as beefed as Paduk or Cole, but Yuri was tiny! Hardly any muscle on him at all, he wasn't exactly frightening. And yet...

As grudgingly as Baird hated to admit it, the little guy had saved him back in the museum, had thrown himself headfirst into the fray to help out Baird, a Gear he barely even knew. They weren't even proper comrades yet, were they? But that look. That look on Yuri's face; a territorial tiger, a proud wolverine, a battling wolf.

Yuri had been more fearsome than any Gear - no, _anyone_ that Baird could remember having met. And all to protect his measly life. 

"Hey!" Baird called, halting the young Gorasni as he passed through the doorway. "Er, thanks. For earlier." 

Yuri grinned, tired, nearly ready to pass out, but his eyes delivering a few shreds of joy to his shattered face. "No problem. I'd say anytime but, ha, I don't really want that to happen anytime ever again." He giggled, saluting Baird in a unrushed sloppiness as he returned to his task of trekking back to the small camp Kilo had made in the seemingly ancient army bunker. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugh, so... much... HOMEWORK.  
> EXAMS ARE THE BANE OF MY EXISTANCE AND IF I SEE ONE MORE DAMN HISTORY ASSIGNMENT I'M GONNA CRY.  
> *ahem* so, yeah sorry this is so late, I'll try to make uploads more regular again, but goddamit school life is being such a dominatrix right now :'(  
> Anyways hope you enjoyed the new chapter!! And remember that bandanna... it's gonna be a wee bit important...


	5. Chapter 5

######  **SEWER PIPE NEAR HALVO BAY MILITARY ACADEMY; 1000  1 A.E.**

* * *

 

* * *

 

 

"See! Told you'd we'd be fine." Yuri giggled, wading knee-deep in something he _really_ didn't want to think about.

Kilo squad were impressed; the young Gorasni was so self-assured, so confident, even when passing through the underground nightmare. They'd been reluctant at first, Baird keen to point out that it was pretty stupid to wander in unknown territory - especially if it meant going underground, in the dark, wet, damp, home to hundreds of those monsters.

"It'll be fine." Yuri had promised with a soft smile, as warm and pleasant as a summer breeze, before he lifted the manhole cover and jumped into the inky darkness beyond, fearless and valiant as a knight.

Paduk was quick on his heels, chuckling as he passed Baird, slapping the younger man on his back. "I like this one!" He laughed, as he entered the dank sewer.

And here they were, with all kinds of nasty floating around them, not a single Grub in sight. Baird had to admit, the kid had made a good call; the sewer pipe - however vile and disgusting as it was - would lead them directly to the Academy in saftey and peace.

Yeah, he wouldn't lie; he was impressed.

"So, what's the plan? We storm in, grab beacon, storm out?"

"Pretty much." Baird sighed. This was starting to unerve him, to make his hands tremble in the faintest manner. Baird grunted, tightening his grip. It was stupid to be afraid - he was in charge now, he had to lead his men through this shit. Now wasn't the time to chicken out.

"Man, this plan gets crazier and crazier the more I think about it!" Cole scoffed, shaking off a chunk of... of _whatever_... from his shoulder.

Yuri chuckled, "Then don't think. Just _do_." He sent a cheeky, cheerful wink over his shoulder. After a moment or so, filled with the sounds of rats and waste sploshing against sewer walls, Yuri said, "I used to work at Farm. My job to cut trees, get firewood. I go out one day, finish job and sit to have lunch when a bear appears - all fur and teeth, with a growling, hungry belly. Bear stares at me. I stare back. Then I put my sandwhich on floor, and walked three steps away, curled up on floor, and pretened to be dead."

"And this has to do with, what, exacly?" Cole grumbled, face scrunched in confusion and annoyance at the fowl smell around him.

"Have you ever laid down in front of a bear? Insane, everything's insane! That's all you can think; you're lying down, faking death while this hungry, wild beast's sniffing at you, just daring you to move, with big slathering jaws over your neck... But, my Papa said to do that. So I did."

"You didn't think, you just did." Baird sighed, his own confusion at the morale of the story slipping away. 

Yuri nodded. "I owe my life to my Papa's teaching. I owe him... A lot."

'A lot.' It was a simple statement, but Baird could feel the weight of a thousand deeds bearing down on the young Gorasni in that one, simple, sighed statement.

"Your Father must have been a smart man, you two sound close." Sofia smiled, distracting Yuri from whatever thoughts pressed upon him. 

"We were. He was soldier, but whenever he came home... Ha, he _made_ it home. He was the heart of everything, and when he left, me and my Ma... We didn't know what to do without him." 

"Where is he, now?" Sofia mumbled, as gentle as possible. In this day and age everyone had lost someone; brothers, sisters, friends, mothers, fathers, lovers... Sofia knew all about loss. And she knew not to dwell on it, but it didn't stop her from asking - a pain shared was a pain halved, right? And Yuri certainly looked really rather pained right now.

"Shot. He... He was shot. It was... It was the - I mean..." Yuri coughed. Why was his throat betraying him? Stupid words stuck in there... Damn it all! Why was it still so hard, after all these years, and he still couldn't control the words, those gordforskaen words.

 _'It's just a story.'_ His mind whimpered. This wasn't  _a story_ , this was  _his story._ And it was one he wasn't willing to share. 

Not just yet.

"S-sorry. I'm not much for talking of past. Not something I like to dwell on."

Sofia nodded. "Of course, I shouldn't-"

"You meant no harm." Yuri smiled with a gentle shrug, a thin arm reaching out to brush a strand of hair from the young cadet's face. "I forgive you - just this once." He winked, and trudged away through the thick slime, leaving a flushed brunnete and scowling blonde in his wake.

 

* * *

 

######  HALVO BAY MILITARY ACADEMY; 1030  1 A.E.

* * *

* * *

 

Oh, Yuri was  _pissed._ Majorly so.

Not only did he have to deal with grubs that fucking mutated and charged around with goddamn steam coming out their ears like a runaway train - oh, no life wasn't so gracious as to let him deal with just that - he had to deal with poison gas too. 

"Ya know, 's good thing your _shibaniak_ headteacher is dead Sofia, or I swear I would shove my lancer so far up his _prdel_ he'd be shitting my bullets!"

Because seriously, who the hell is paranoid enough to turn an entire school into a toxic deathtrap - and if that goddamn Grub charged at him one more time he was going to-!

Baird growled, breath fleeting as he motored across the room and behind a pile of crates close to the raging Gorani. The other man didn't even notice as his whole world shrank to the size of that one Grub who wouldn't die. Right then, Yuri didn't care for anything but the fight; the stench of the smoke around him, the heavy copper taste on his tongue and the dripping of sweat on his brow. He crouched back behind the crate, his arm pressed against Baird's as he reloaded.

"You okay?" The Lieutenant grumbled as he threw a grenade over his shoulder, only sparing a quick glance as to where it went. Yuri sighed, a sound easily lost in the ensuing boom of the frag and the blazing of the sirens. 

"The Lab entrance is just ahead!" Sofia shouted as she fired round after round at a Grenadier.

The young Gorasni gave a brief smile as he dived from behind cover and slap-bang under the feet of the Rager Locust. He wasted no time in rolling to his left and rising behind the beast before carving his lancer into the soft spot between its spiked shoulderblades.

Baird scoffed at the reckless behaviour but didn't bother to hide a smile at Yuri's cheerful whoops and cheers at finally defeating the accursed Grub. Even Paduk took a moment to clap his brother on the back in a brief celebration.

But the action made Baird feel something funny - no, not funny. Not funny 'ha ha', but funny... Wait was that...? 

"Baird, c'mon baby or do you wanna be choking on some gas?!" Cole smirked nudging the smaller gear as he barged past towards the Lab with Paduk and Sofia.

Only Yuri stood, surrounded in ever growing clouds of green poison to wait for him, a smile on his face all the while.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yet more Gorasni! This time all Bulgarian (according to the internet at least)  
> Shibaniak = fuckface   
> prdel = arse (or ass if you're from across the pond)
> 
> And the 'playing dead' thing is a weird one cuz it doesn't work for every bear and every scenario, but I figured I'd just use it for now, but I'd tell people to read up on bear saftey cuz I thought it was kinda intersting, but hey-ho...
> 
> So, mostly fighting in this chapter (and I'm terrible at writing that but hopefully I'll improve) and I tried to make it longer since I've been so crappy with updates lately,   
> anyways I hope ya enjoyed and I hope to see you again soon!
> 
> -Courtz


	6. Chapter 6

######  KEVLOV FARM; GORASNYA   5 B.E.

 

_"Hey Yuri, where do you think you'll be in ten years time?"_

_"In back of a fast car having my dick sucked - by you preferably."_

_"Hey, I'm trying to be serious!"_

_"And who's to say I wasn't?"_

_"I know you were being serious... that's the worst part. But c'mon Yuri... I don't see you being some elite soldier like your Dad, and you're not meant to stay on this farm."_

_"If this is your way of breaking up with me-"_

_"No!  Why would I...? Look, I was just trying to get into that head of yours. You never talk to me about your family, or your dreams - nothing! You know me inside and out and you can't even tell me what job you want."_

_"Well... 'S not very interesting... I don't know where I want to work. But I used to work in a garage and -"_

_"Don't do that. Don't lie to me. This is the only job you've ever had - so don't lie to me. I don't know much, but I know that. So don't lie. Okay?"_

_"Okay."_

_"So... where do you think you'll be? Yuri?"_

 

* * *

 

_ HALVO BAY MILITARY ACADEMY; R&D  LABS   1A.E. _

 

Wherever he thought he'd be, it sure as hell wasn't here.

The lab was huge, metallic greys and blues with high copper coloured walls, equipment gleaming under formal strip lights.

If it wasn't for the dozens of Locust carcasses scattered around, Yuri might have even enjoyed staying there for awhile.

The young Gorasni let out a low whistle, tuning back into his fellow gear's conversation just in time to hear Sofia's confession.

"...Professor Elliot had a crush on me."

He glanced at Baird who had stuck by him the entire fight, noting his rather comical 'what do I say?' face.

 "Oh. Okay." Baird said after a moment, voice clipped and high.

Look he didn't like relationships, okay? He didn't like seeing people in them, being in them or hearing about them. Quite frankly, Damon Baird was terrified of intimacy.

Yuri snickered at the blonde's awkward face.

"Looks like we found your lab." Paduk sighed as Sofia entered the pass codes.

The young Gorasni stood by his older countryman. He might not have fought in the war, but he understood that it must be draining; traveling through an academy that trained the people who killed your men, slaughtered your family, pillaged your lands and made every waking moment hell. Venturing off to activate a missile that scarred your face and scarred your heart.

But maybe that was just Yuri being Yuri - overthinking and overly dramatic.

Maybe he was right though. Maybe when he nudged the greying man with the tired eyes as they stepped into the lab, when he whispered, "I'm with you, brother" he didn't imagine that brief, momentary look of relief in Paduk's eyes and the way his shoulders  shifted, the tension gone - for just a second - before he marched ahead like the proud General he once was.

 

* * *

 

_"I don't know where I think I'll be."_

_"You don't know?"_

_"Should I?"_

_"I just don't get you Yuri."_

_"Maybe there isn't anything to get - maybe I don't want you to 'get' anything. Why can't  this be enough, huh? Right here, right now, just you me and that stupid bandana."_

_"Hey don't hate the bandana!"_

_"I'll hate it all I want, zvezva moya."_

_"Yuri..."_

* * *

"Yuri!"

The Gorasni gasped, stunned from his memories.

Baird frowned, lips warped with a silent worry hidden beneath a much louder annoyance. 

"I ain't saving your ass under fire,  so I suggest you get your act together, soldier. Are you with us?"

Yuri blinked. 

Where did he see himself in ten years time?

"I'm here."

Baird smirked,  nudging the dazed Gorasni with a punch to the shoulder. 

"Good, now let's get this beacon."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry about the absence! Hell I'm not even sure this chapter makes up for it, forgive me please! But I'll try and get this done I swear - it might be slow updates but it isn't abandoned!!
> 
> Today's language lesson(according to the Internet);   
> RUSSIAN  
> Zvezda moya - my star
> 
> -CT


End file.
